01 February 2017
Abstract
We show how the shadow price on the state variable N(a,t) that is reflecting the size of the population group aged a at time t can be interpreted as the "value" of this population. The value typically constitutes a direct value of a member of the group (a,t) in terms of the objective function, a reproductive component, reflecting the value of the remaining flow of offspring, and a component representing the "value of interaction" with differently-aged members of the same population (a',t) and/or different populations. We illustrate the concept by drawing on examples from health economics, demography, and resource management.
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